Birthday Blahs...

I was going to wax poetic about my birthday, but then I realized just how boring and depressing it would be.

I'm not that old, really. I'm not.... Honest.

I'm in my prime, but inching so much closer to that dreaded hill, that it does weigh on my mind- the large black cloud of middle-age looming nearer and nearer. Do I want to go over the hill? No way. I'd like to backpedal into my mid-twenties, but that's not likely to happen.

Of course, it could have a lot to do with looking at my 10 y/o stepson and my 6 y/o daughter and seeing how grown up they're getting and how quickly time is slipping through my fingers.

It also might have a little something to do with my dear sweet husband who proclaimed on his 29th birthday that he wasn't going have anymore birthdays and that he would stay 29 the rest of his life. He's just a few months older than I am.

Was it Benny Hill who said he was going to stop growing old at 39? I can't remember, but that's what it makes me think of.

I told hubby, that in all fairness, if I have to get older, so does he. LOL

In the meantime- I'm going to spend this day deep in the trenches of revisions.

Shhhhh....let's just pretend that I'm not having a birthday.

Hey, if hubby can do it, maybe I should, too!

Moving Along

Last night I started edits/revisions and fluffing to LBC, the 2nd of 7 that needs work. I got 1400 some odd words added. This story was woven a bit tighter than the previous one, so I spent a lot of time last night just reading, adding some description to scenes to further the "visual" of the story. I did eventually stumble onto a section where the scene went from one day until a week later with little mention of what went on in between. I also stayed in one character's POV during that switch in scenes, so I figured I needed to give the other a little voice, a little more insight.

So that's where I am today- delving into creating more to the story and diving between the scenes to tie things together better.

I think I enjoy the writing of a manuscript better than I do the revisions and fluffing of the story. When writing I can easily let thoughts flow across the keyboard and onto the screen. I feel like I'm actually "getting" somewhere.

Going through edits is like trying to find a needle in a haystack while I'm trying to squeeze another scene or even just another word here and there while making sure it's not an unnecessary addition. Of course, it never fails that in the process I add a scene or a word or two, but end up subtracting the same amount when I realize I've repeated myself or see a sentence I know could be better structured and read more smoothly if I phrase it differently.

I do edit through as I write. I'll go back to the beginning and read through until I get to the scene I'm working on. I catch all kinds of mistakes and grammatical errors while I'm writing, but it seems I still find more when I go back through a finished manuscript.

Writers are their own worst critic and I believe it. I never fail to see the flaws and wonder- "Just what am I doing? Where did that even come from? How stupid does that sound?"

But I continue to move along. It's almost like creating a town with words.

I search out the plot holes in the road and fill them in. I build better sentences and paragraphs with good foundations and believe that my next journey through the story finds less eyesores and irritable word syndromes, hoping instead to have a smooth ride through and beautiful scenery and a pleasant visit with those who live within the pages.

One of these days I'll travel through and not have my own personal complaints that the town is too crowded or not crowded enough. Someday I'll see that the people are genuine and nice and that Polished Manuscript, U.S.A. is worthy of a mark on the map. :D

Ramble, ramble, ramble...I need to get to work.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Homemade Brown Sugar Icing

The other day I mentioned the Butter cake with Brown Sugar Icing.

The butter cake was from a mix, so any butter cake would do- This icing recipe though goes well with a lot of different types of cakes and such, not just Butter- i.e. Applesauce Cake, Prune Cake, Carrot Cake- etc.

Brown Sugar Icing
1 stick of butter
1 Cup packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Melt butter in saucepan
Add Brown Sugar and boil for 2 minutes
Stir in milk and bring back to boil
Remove from heat and cool until lukewarm
Beat in Powdered Sugar and Vanilla
Poke holes in cake and drizzle over
*******

You may wish to refrigerate any uneaten cake so it does not sour.

82,250 Words Fluffy and Migraines

Last night I made it to the end of my first round of edits on the first manuscript I dug into- topped out at 82,250 words instead of 66,461 when I started work on it a couple of weeks ago.

Out of my 9 finished manuscripts there's about 7 that really needed "fluffing" so I've knocked one out of the way, though I know I'll go back and do a read through for more edits and revisions, etc. Knowing myself so well, I'll probably read through more than just one more time, though I've gone through all my stories several times already.

No sooner than I got to "The End" last night than the headache I'd been nurturing all day hit me and hit me hard. I thought it was a simple PMS headache, which have a tendency to localize around my left eye every time, but no...it escalated into a full blown migraine in a matter of minutes.

I sought refuge in the bedroom where it was dark, quiet and cooler...I grabbed a cold wet washcloth and it seemed to be helping, but migraines have always been a major problem for me and once it's full blown- I'm done for. I've suffered them since I was 10 or 11. Usually associated with eye strain or the length of my thick hair. (I personally think my hair's gotten too long). I haven't had a migraine in- well, I honestly can't remember the last time I had one this bad. Seems it's been years.

The pain kept coming in waves and I knew there was only one solution. After a little sleep I thought I was all right, but no- my feet flew me to the bathroom and I had to do what I had to do, though I didn't want to. Nausea rolled through my body. Eventually I felt much better, though my throat is still sore today because of it.

I feel okay today, but I'm sluggish and kind of zoned out and my head still hurts just the slightest. Migraines take their toll on me. Hopefully that will be the last one I have for another long while.

Now on to the next set of revisions- LBC. The word count stands at 61,540- so I have a little more work to do on this one than the last.